EDF Energy has today announced further preferred bidders for the project to construct the Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant in the UK. The combined value of the contracts is some £1.3 billion ($2.0 billion).

The majority of the latest contracts have been awarded to UK companies. Balfour Beatty Bailey - a joint venture between Balfour Beatty and NG Bailey - won the contract for electrical cabling and equipment installation. A contract for the construction of workers' campus accommodation was awarded to Laing O'Rourke, while construction of temporary buildings will be carried out by Premier Interlink WACO UK Ltd. Meanwhile, power transmission work has been awarded to ABB UK. Weir is to supply large pumps for cooling water and Clyde Union will provide the main pumps for the feedwater and cooling water systems.

Enel plans to sell its 66% stake in Slovenské Elektrárne in two stages – through the sale of a minority stake by the end of this year and the remainder once construction of two nuclear power units at Mochovce nuclear power plant in Slovakia has been completed. The Slovak government owns the remaining 34% in the country's biggest power producer.

EDF has agreed to take a stake of at least 51% in Areva's reactor business, according to a memorandum of understanding signed by the two companies yesterday that sets out the principal terms and conditions of the plan.

Holtec International has unveiled the schedule for its proposed consolidated interim storage facility for used nuclear fuel, with start-up slated for 2020. Holtec sees the facility, to be built in south-eastern New Mexico, as the only solution being put forward to deal with the USA's 70,000 tonnes of used nuclear fuel that is currently located in 35 states and at about 70 sites.

An agreement in principle has been reached between Electrabel and the Belgian government on the conditions for a ten-year life extension for units 1 and 2 of the Doel nuclear power plant. The tax to be paid by the country's nuclear operators has also been revised.

The head of the Canadian nuclear regulator has written to Québec's minister for sustainable development, environment and climate change questioning the recommendations made by a public consultation on uranium mining in the province.

The human side of nuclear safety

The 2011 accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan has, as might be expected, led to improvements in equipment at plants around the world that have fortified safety systems and allowed for better protection against rare, extreme natural events.

Equally important to the process of improving nuclear safety is the emphasis placed on implementing quality improvements to the 'human' side of nuclear safety, a crucial element that is often not considered by those outside the nuclear sector, writes William Magwood.